Odisha begins process to bring back Odia migrant workers from Gujarat, Maharashtra
BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha government on Sunday initiated the process to bring back the stranded Odia migrant workers from Gujarat and Maharashtra, the two states with most of India’s Covid-19 positive cases.
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik talked to his counterparts in Gujarat Vijay Rupani and Uddhav Thackeray in Maharashtra in two separate video conferences to ensure a safe and dignified return of the Odia migrant workers. He thanked both the CMs for taking care of the Odia workers since the lockdown. Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan attended both the videoconferencing from New Delhi.
Naveen requested both Rupani and Thackeray to ensure that the migrant workers mandatorily register themselves with the state government’s portal before leaving for Odisha so that they would be placed in quarantine facilities immediately after reaching Odisha in a hassle free manner.
It is unclear whether the migrant workers will head back home immediately or after lifting of the second phase lockdown period on May 3.
“They could also be brought back even before completion of the lockdown period. We are in touch with the authorities of both the states for smooth passage of Odia workers from the two states in this regard for an early decision,” said a senior government official.
During the videoconferences, it was also decided that coordination committees comprising two senior officers each from Odisha and other two states will also be constituted to monitor the process, said an official statement issued by the chief minister’s office. Odisha chief secretary Asit Tripathy will discuss the exit plan of migrant workers with his counterparts in Gujarat and Maharashtra and assign duties to senior officers for smooth coordination.
According to initial plan, special buses will be arranged by the host states to carry migrant workers to Odisha while a decision will be taken later to use other modes of transportation like special trains or flights.
Detail plan on arrangement of buses, pick up point and facilities en route is being worked out in coordination with different states, said official sources.
The chief minister, during the VC, said he would request Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to exempt road tax on the special buses carrying migrant labourers.
Earlier, the state government has made registration process mandatory for all—migrant workers, students, professionals, stranded pilgrims and patients—who wants to return to the state after lifting of lockdown restrictions. The labourers have to give their details like Aadhaar and mobile numbers.
All the inbound migrant workers will be placed in state-sponsored quarantine facilities at the gram panchayat level for two weeks, which is mandatory in Odisha. Government also announced incentives of Rs 2,000 after completion of 14-day quarantine facilities.
“Since the migrant workers are coming from two of country’s most affected states, we are extremely careful. No migrant workers will be allowed to go his/her home without completing the 14-day mandatory quarantine period. Action will be taken against of any one violates it,” the official said.
The official declined to comment when asked about the number of workers the state government is expecting from the two states saying it can be assessed only after the registration process. Unofficial sources said the numbers could be more than 1 lakh.
Over seven lakh Odias mostly from Ganjam district have migrated to Surat since decades to work in the textiles and diamond cutting factories while many of them have settled in the Gujarat city. Migrant workers, mostly living in crammed multi-storied buildings without their families, are desperate to return to Odisha. Recently, the migrant workers hit the roads in Surat defying lockdown.
Ganjam district collector Vijay Kulange said the district administration is ready with all facilities to receive migrant workers from different states.
Officials said the state government may also hold discussions with other states like Delhi, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka for return of Odia migrant workers in phases.
Over 7000 temporary medical camps have been set up with over 2.2 lakh bed strengths across 6798 gram panchayats, which will be used as institutional quarantine centres. Since government expects return of around 5 lakh people from different states after completion of lockdown, the state government has been working to ramp up capacity of the temporary medical camps.
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